


Dog Tag Rebels

by waterthose54



Category: Gangsta., Gangsta. (Manga), Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan, snk - Fandom
Genre: Crossover, F/F, F/M, Gangsta, Other, snk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-27
Updated: 2015-08-05
Packaged: 2018-04-11 15:07:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4440545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waterthose54/pseuds/waterthose54
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU where being gay is illegal. If enough evidence is collected to prove someone is homosexual, they are made to wear dog tags and become Twilights which are no longer protected under the law. People in the LGBT+ community decide to fight back by starting their own gang to protect each other. (the story is told through multiple perspectives) Crossover AU between Gangsta. and SNK (Shingeki no Kyojin)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Inin

**Author's Note:**

> I've been having all these ideas about a fanfiction for like a year and when I started watching Gangsta. I knew how to bring it all together. This is my first time writing fanfiction (I normally do poetry) so hopefully my writing isn't too horrible. Please enjoy! And feel free to send me feedback if you'd like

He wanted to convince himself that it wasn’t so bad. Of course getting random people to stare at you all day doesn’t feel so great, and having the feeling that they’re all talking about you all at once isn’t the most fun thing in the world but… but it could have been worse, he supposed. It really could have gone a whole different direction, he thought he was lucky not to have gotten beat up… but he also wondered if this was much better. He wondered how much more careful he’d have to be with all the attention he was now getting. Of course it wasn’t an issue before, but now… now he wondered if he’d have to think twice before talking to anyone.  


Again… It didn’t matter much, really, since he didn’t talk to very many people. It’s just the way things were. Not that he wanted them that way. But there was no time to mull it over. He had to accept it, and he’d have to accept his decision to help Armin out. It was worth it, probably. Impulse is always a difficult thing.  
It started in the when Marco went to the bathroom. Apparently he was walking right in the middle of three guys ganging up against Armin. Marco knew he couldn’t do much. Maybe not anything at all. But he didn’t want to leave Armin all alone. He knew all the rumors, he knew exactly what people said about Armin, but he also knew it wasn’t fair. No one had been able to prove anything, and in Marco’s eyes, that kind of meant that he couldn’t assume anything, even though everyone else assumed it. So after a few seconds of thinking it over, he stepped in, he told the three guys to leave Armin alone. They teased and pushed Marco who was trying to do nothing more than stand his ground and keep himself from crying.  


They pushed him one last time and left the bathroom laughing. Armin had been standing against the wall, watching. When the guys left, he quickly asked Marco if he was okay before thanking him. The two stood for a moment, then Armin took his leave. That was all that happened. Neither Marco nor Armin were harmed. At the time Marco was real glad to know no one else had seen what happened. But somehow, he felt people knew.  
Maybe it was all paranoia, but people were staring more than they usually did… In fact people never stared at Marco, so any attention was pretty noticeable, and boy was there a lot of it.  


Eventually, the school day ended as it always does, even on days when Marco felt as though they wouldn’t end. As Marco walked through the halls, he wondered how he had managed to stay the subject of everyone’s conversation all day. It was completely ridiculous. He assumed that at the end of the day people would be more focused on their after school plans, but every time he walked passed some students, they would hush up and whisper to each other, sometimes even turn away. And just as it was all throughout the day, the only thing Marco could do was ignore it. Marco took one last trip to his locker to gather his books and notes before heading out, he was more than happy to put the day behind him.  


As Marco left the school parking lot, he wondered how long it would take before he became invisible again. He had always done his best to stay out of sight, mostly out of wanting to keep himself safe. He figured if no one paid attention to him they wouldn’t notice anything about him. They wouldn’t notice enough to get a dog tag around his neck. A short but comfortable breeze flowed through the air as Marco walked through a short path in the wooded area just outside of school property. He walked along the road, silently thinking to himself, feeling somber at all the choices he’s made but knowing they were what was best. As he continued to walk, he started to notice something out of the corner of his eye. There was a dark colored car just behind him. He couldn’t tell exactly what color it was, he didn’t want to turn his head back and check. He thought that might be a bad idea. It crept just behind him, slowly enough to make Marco nervous. He thought at first that maybe he was only being paranoid, just like he had been all day, this was probably no different. But the car kept coming closer and closer, and Marco wasn’t sure what to make of it. Maybe enough of the whispers that went on all day had been enough to convince someone? What if it was those three guys from before and they were just mad that Marco had stepped in? What if they were waiting to be far away enough from the school to get their revenge? He wasn’t sure what to do.  
Marco was walking along a fairly clear road, no small alleys or pathways to run into. There were only houses along the side. He had a strong doubt that anyone would open their doors for him.  


So he kept walking.  


He kept going, he figured he’ll wait at the last minute. Maybe when he hears the car doors open he’ll make a run for it. “Just stay calm Bodt” he said, keeping the car in the corner of his eye. He reached into his pocket and turned the sound of his music all the way down, that way he could keep an ear out for the sound of the doors opening but still look like he has no idea he’s being followed. As he walked he remembered that just up ahead there was a bridge for the train tracks, right over the dip of a hill. The bridge is right next to the forested part of town where he could hide in patches of tall trees and shrubs. If he could make it to the bridge he could probably make his getaway. He started walking a little faster, but the car wasn’t in the corner of his eye anymore.  
He sighed. It was all just paranoia. All for nothing. He turned back, the car wasn’t parked all too far away. The car turned out to be a deep navy blue color, left parked in the driveway of a pretty large house on the same side of the street as Marco. He figured maybe they were driving so slow because they were looking for the house they parked at. It does get pretty difficult to navigate that part of town. The streets all look the same and the mailboxes have really small numbers on them. Two guys stepped out of the car. They were tall, Marco was close enough to see that they were pretty muscular. They both wore black hoodies. Marco kept walking forward. He sighed of relief knowing the car was not chasing after him.  


There wasn’t much time in between hearing the car in the distance start backup and seeing the car speed past him and turn the corner. It halted at the end of the sidewalk Marco was walking-- right on the crosswalk where the roads intersect and cut into the sidewalk. The driver stepped outside. Even though he was also tall with a black hoodie, he wasn’t as muscular as the other two guys. The driver looked familiar. Marco thought he’d seen his face and blond hair somewhere before, maybe at school?  


“Hey you,” he called out. “Get in the car.” So it wasn’t just paranoia. It was real. Marco knew what this meant. He needed to run, he wasn’t sure where but definitely somewhere far. He stood frozen for a minute, trying not to cry for the second time in one day. He needed to unscramble his thoughts and try to run somewhere, but then there was a pat on his shoulder from behind.  


“Come on, get in the car,” he heard from behind, one of the three guys wearing hoodies stood just behind him. Unsure of what else to do, Marco obeyed. He walked towards the car, not making eye contact with the driver of the car. Just staring at the floor. “Jeez, I think you scared him Thomas”, the guy standing behind Marco spoke again.  
The driver laughed, “Guess so”. Thomas opened the back passenger seat door for Marco. The third guy who had also been behind Marco went around to the other side of the car. That left Marco needing to sit in the middle of the back seats. Once the four of them were sitting in the car and the doors were closed, Thomas spoke again. “Where to?”  


“Huh?” Marco peeped out. He looked up to the front mirror where he could see the reflection of Thomas’s bright blue eyes.  


“Your house, where is it?” Thomas asked. Marco didn’t respond, the two maintained eye contact through the mirror. So Thomas turned his body to face Marco directly. “We’re taking you home, where do you live?”  
He spent the whole car ride being a nervous mess, internally that is. On the outside, he was sure that he was showing how nervous he was, but he definitely tried to hide it (which probably made his nervousness show even more). The men in the car had stayed silent for the most part. The driver, Thomas, kept looking back at Marco through the rearview mirror. That made Marco even more nervous.  
Normally it would take about ten minutes to drive to Marco’s house, but since he had walked part of the way, they were there in five minutes. Five horribly long minutes. They drove through the fairly wooded streets at a slow enough pace for Marco to be able to think. Marco had hoped that they would need to stop on occasion for Thomas to ask for directions but he clearly knew where he was going. He even made the left turn at the big yellow house which led them through the shortcut to Marco’s house. It made him panic a little. He thought maybe it meant that these guys had been watching him for a while and only asked for his address to feign ignorance.  


When they arrived, Thomas parked in Marco’s driveway, right behind his dad’s black minivan. He was regretting telling them his real address, but he wasn’t sure what would happen if he told them a fake. He wasn’t even sure what would happen now that they were at his house, the one he really lives in.  
Thomas twisted himself back to look at Marco. “This it?” He spoke. Marco only nodded. He hoped his parents weren’t looking out of any windows. Even if these guys didn’t do anything to him that day, then he would still have to explain why he was being dropped off… especially since he’s never mentioned any friends to his parents. Thomas held Marco’s gaze. He let the silence linger for a moment, not even the other two guys had said anything. “Okay then…” Thomas maintained eye contact. “We’ll come pick you up tomorrow. You go to school at 8 or do ya like to get there early?”  
“What? Why are you doing this?” Marco made sure to keep his confusion and frustration watered down, although he was angry, he didn’t want Thomas to notice and get angry himself.  


Thomas laughed lightly. “Because, I was asked to. Should probably give ya my number though.” He reached into his back pocket but looked like he realized there was nothing there , then checked a different pocket and found what he needed. He pulled out a notepad. He twisted himself back and took a pen from the mini compartment beneath the car radio. He scribbled his phone number down and tore the sheet out of the notepad. He twisted himself back to look at Marco. “Here,” he reached out.  


“Why should I take it?” Marco refused to accept the sheet of paper.  


Thomas sighed. “Look, don’t make this hard for me, okay? Just take my number and call me tomorrow when you’re ready. I’ll come get you and drop you off at school.” Thomas waved the piece of paper between his thumb and index finger in front of Marco’s face to emphasize.  


“I can get myself to school, I don’t need you to take me, really.”  


“Look, if it were up to me I’d let ya do whatever you want. But it’s not up to me and you need to just do ask you’re asked. Okay?” Marco just stared at Thomas for a moment, then he reached out and took the sheet of paper. “If you don’t call me it’ll be bad, you understand?” Thomas furrowed his eyebrow. “Alright, listen, those guys that were after Armin in the bathroom today? They were following you. We heard they wanted to jump ya for sticking up for dear ol’ Armin, that’s why I was sent over with these guys to come pick ya up. You did Armin a solid, he might not be a dog tag, but we know the rumors. We know how people talk about him and we know you do too.” Marco jumped at that. He didn’t think anyone would ever bring up the dog tags out loud, especially when it came to Armin. “Let us pay you back for him.” Confused and nervous, Marco nodded twice. The guy sitting to his left opened the door and stepped out of the car to let Marco out.  


“Make sure ya call!” Thomas called out to Marco as he moved out of the car. The guy who sat to his left nodded and sat back in his seat. Marco stepped back and watched Thomas drive away.  


They wanted to drive him home. They wanted to drive him again the next morning. They knew about what happened to Armin. They scared the shit out of Marco. But… they didn’t really do anything to him. And they did say they were keeping him safe from that crew in the bathroom… He couldn’t decide what to do. Maybe he could get a hold of Armin’s phone number online somewhere. Marco just felt like he needed some answers.  


Maybe he shouldn’t have been scared of Thomas. Maybe…. But who knows really. He noticed he had probably been standing outside for a good five minutes, as if his neighbors didn’t already think he was weird. He lived in a small house, near the corner of his street but not quite. He liked that about his house since he felt that corner houses were way too exposed. Marco found some sort of comfort in what was hidden. The house was painted white except for the roof which was painted red. At the front of the house was the porch that Marco used to play on as a kid with the neighbors, but it had been years since Marco stayed out on the porch for any reason. The porch had a fence which held up the pillars which supported the roof that kept the porch cool in the summer. Instead of bikes and toys spread out on the porch like in years past, there were only his parents’ lawn chairs. He sighed and scurried inside.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 

The next morning Marco did as he was told and called Thomas. He answered and came right away to get Marco. He decided to tell his parents that he made a friend who lives nearby and that they’d carpool from now on. He figured they might notice one day and ask questions so it was best to get it out of the way as soon as possible. Thomas came alone that time. He greeted Marco and wished him good luck, other than that he had kept quiet for the entirety of the car ride. Just before leaving he told Marco to call him when he needs to be picked up again. Marco sighed and decided to make his way to class.  


Things weren’t much better. People still stared, they still whispered, and they still turned away. And things were like that for the next few days. Marco would call Thomas in the morning, get dropped off, go to class, and get glared at all day, and at the end of each school day, Marco would call Thomas and he’d show up in five minutes to come get him. Eventually things died down. People stopped paying attention to Marco. Eventually about two weeks had passed since the incident but any changes that Marco had made to his routine had remained. Once people started talking about him, he decided that it would be best to eat in the library. Normally he ate with a group of casual friends that he went to class with, but after all the rumors started, they began to distance themselves from Marco. Marco knew why. He knew that the whole school would be watching him and anyone he spoke to. Including his friends. From that moment on, there would be suspicion around him, always. It was hard to accept it for the first few days, but once they passed, Marco realized how little he really cared for them.  


But still… was it all worth it for Armin? The thing about Armin was… well the thing was that Marco hadn’t seen or spoken to him since the whole incident… In fact Marco wondered why he hadn’t even thought about that. He should have been looking for Amrin, looking to speak to him to get an explanation for the whole business with Thomas. This whole thing was ridiculous! Marco stuck his neck out for the guy and suddenly he disappears! On top of it, a bunch of super tall and intimidating guys forced him to get into a car and now he’s being chauffeured around like a little kid. Marco suddenly felt two weeks of frustration all at once. He wasn’t the type to get all hot headed but this was definitely a unique case that called for it. As Marco chewed his food in the back of the library in anger, he heard a familiar voice.  


He had an idea of who it was but wanted to make sure he was right. He stood up to go check. He passed a few shelves and noticed a girl with dark, short hair, a stern look, and a red scarf. Without a doubt it was Mikasa. Marco hadn’t really ever spoken to her, but he knew she was friends with Armin. She was one of the few people to stay friends with him after the whole Eren thing.  


He slowly approached her, unsure if it was okay for him to be talking to her.  


“Uh… Hey there… Mikasa.” Marco blushed, more out of embarrassment than anything. The past few days have been devoid of human interaction. As if Marco wasn’t awkward enough without the extra push.  


Mikasa turned to Marco, maintaining her stoic look. “Hey.”  


“So, uh, I was wondering if you’ve seen Armin around anywhere.” Marco chuckled lightly. He noticed Mikasa stayed silent. She turned back towards the book shelf, clearly searching for something.  


“He’s been around. I’ll let him know you’re looking for him.”  


“Uh… thanks, Mikasa.” She kept shuffling through the books, not really paying attention to him. He took a slow step backwards, feeling that the conversation had come to an end.  


“Marco.” Mikasa spoke softly but loud enough to make Marco pause. She looked at him right in the eyes. “I’m sorry about everything. Things must have changed a whole lot for you. I want to make sure I thank you for helping Armin. Ever since everyone put a target on Eren’s back, I’ve been doing my best to keep him and Armin safe. But I can’t be everywhere. I’m glad you were there when I couldn’t be. So, if you ever need help avoiding a dog tag, please let me know.”  
“Thank you… Mikasa.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Another day went by. Marco had already taken his stuff from his locker and began making his way outside to the parking lot. There was a bench just in front of the lot where students could get dropped off or picked up. Marco decided he wanted to sit on the bench for a while before calling Thomas. He wasn’t in any rush after all. He would only go home to sit around. The weather was getting a little colder again. It happened a lot during spring. Marco never minded the fluctuation of the weather. He felt that he needed to be grateful for any warmth that rolled through, no matter how short the waves of warm weather were.  
As he sat on the bench he began to stare up in the sky. Students walked by, some stood a few feet away as they waited for their parents. But no one else sat down next to him. Though the glares and whispers nearly stopped, people still tended to avoid him. Marco couldn’t imagine things being any different, but his parents swore to him that it wasn’t always like this. There was apparently a time when people weren’t worried about the Twilights and nobody was forced to keep a dog tag on their neck. Marco was young when it all started but too young to remember. Things had changed so fast, and he had grown up with it, so it became a part how he saw the world. He, however, had fairly progressive parents. The cold hatred of the Twilights was never ingrained in Marco. And to be honest, he kind of wishes it was, especially now. He tried not to let those thoughts take over his mindset. He knew the Twilights didn’t do anything wrong.  
It was hard though… He knew he shouldn’t blame Eren, but because of him people kept an eye on Armin, and now because of him Marco was placed under the same microscope. The good thing is that it’s nearly over.  


“Hey! You just gonna sit there all day!” Marco looked down to see where the voice came from. Thomas had parked a few feet away from him. He had rolled the window down to yell at Marco.  


“I didn’t even call you yet…” Marco whispered to himself. Apparently he had become predictable. He stood and made his way to the car, sitting in the passenger’s seat next to Thomas. The two didn’t speak much but they did become friendly with each other in the time that Thomas had been driving Marco.  


“So listen,” Thomas waited for Marco to put on his seat belt before starting the car. “The thing is, I heard that the whole issue with you at school is dying down. We’re kind of stretched thin right now so I’m thinking maybe in a week or two you might not need me anymore.”  


“Uh… Well...” Marco didn’t know what to make of it. To be honest, he was starting to like spending time with Thomas. It essentially the only real socializing that Marco did these days. At first things between them were a little awkward, but eventually Marco saw how nice Thomas was and the two of them began talking more and more. For a few days now the two of them began texting each other casually and even talked about more than just what time Thomas had to go pick Marco up. However, Marco still didn’t feel too comfortable asking Thomas about why he knew about the incident in the bathroom with Armin, or who had sent him, or why the first time that Thomas picked him up he had those two guys with him. He figured now was a good a time as any. Especially since Thomas was bringing up the notion that this would be over soon. “To be honest, I kind of like spending time with you like this. But if you have other things to do, I shouldn’t get in the way of that. But I do want to ask you a few things.”  


“Hm.. yeah, I guess that’s fair, especially since you waited this long. Go ahead. Shoot.”  


“Well can you tell me how you knew about the thing with Armin?”  


Thomas sighed. “Look, uh, I figured you’d ask, actually I thought since you hadn’t asked that Armin explained the whole thing to you.”  


“Actually I haven’t seen Armin since the whole thing happened…”  


“Really?” Thomas took his eyes off the road to look at Marco. “Well, uhh, the thing is, and I really, really hope you don’t freak out or anything, but the thing is, I’m in a gang. I’m with the Twilights. We keep each other safe since it’s been decided that we don’t matter. We’re the ones that are keeping an eye on Eren. Mikasa and Armin too. Ever since they passed that law seventeen years ago, things are a lot harder for us.”  


“Us? But you don’t have a dog tag.”  


Thomas laughed. “Well not all of us have been caught.” Thomas turned to Marco again to flash him a wink. Marco wasn’t sure how he felt from it. “Hey, uh, I just remembered that I wanted to make a quick stop before dropping you off. Do you mind coming a long?”  


“No, I don’t mind.”  


“Okay, cool.” The next few minutes were quiet, Marco took his time in absorbing the information. He didn’t want to freak out, especially since Thomas had asked him not to. But he really wanted to. He wasn’t sure what he had become involved with but he could have never imagined a gang. “How long has your gang been around, Thomas?”  


“Long time. Long enough to be able to buy a few houses in the area. One of them is huge too. We keep Eren at that one, we figure it’s what’s best.” The car had begun entering into the north part of town, not particularly far from Marco’s house. As they got farther and farther into the north side, Thomas turned into a parking lot for a store Marco knew wasn’t visited often. The north side of town was fairly empty, there weren’t very many houses or businesses, mostly more forest. It was close to a preserve and far from the highway which kept most people away. Marco wondered why anyone would want to keep their business in the north side, and he wondered how this store had always managed to look like it was doing well. He figured since Thomas was running an errand here that the store owners made their money through Thomas’s gang… or maybe they were owned by the gang. That was a thought for another time. Marco really wanted to keep himself from getting to scared of everything that was going on, but it was getting harder the more questions he asked. So he figured it was time to keep quiet.  


Thomas parked in a space up close to the door. The lot was mostly empty except for two cars in the back. Thomas had kept his eye on the two cars as he drove into the parking lot, Marco wondered about it, but figured it was nothing.  


“Hey, Marco, so I need you to stay in the car, okay? This shouldn’t take long but just stay in the car no matter what, okay?” Marco nodded, trying to keep whatever emotions he had hidden. Mostly it was that he wanted to keep himself from showing how scared he was, his voice would have definitely cracked and it would have been painfully obvious.  


Thomas locked the doors and left. Marco watched him from the windows as he walked into the convenient store. He had forgotten to ask Thomas to turn on the radio which he strongly regretted. Music would have been nice. Instead he sat in silence, waiting for Thomas to return with nothing but his thoughts on how he had somehow gotten mixed up with a gangster. He wondered how Armin had come to know these guys and if Mikasa knew about them. She most likely did since she’s all about keeping Armin and Eren safe and she’d never let someone dangerous take Eren. So maybe it wasn’t so bad. They obviously don’t mean too much harm since Mikasa let them take care of Eren. Plus, Thomas has been looking out for him this whole time.  


Suddenly Marco heard three loud noises, like fireworks up close but worse. It went silent for another minute. Then one more small explosion.  


The same feeling that came over him in the bathroom with Armin came washing over him again. He knew he shouldn’t… but he unlocked the car. His hand shook as he put it over the door handle and pulled. His legs fought back as he stepped out and made a step towards the door. The whole time, he told himself to go back and hide in the car. He knew he should but… but… he was already at the door.  


Marco knew he shouldn’t go inside. But he also knew that he couldn’t stop himself either way. He started to lift his arm when two men swung the door open and ran out. They both wore dark clothes, black gloves, and only one had a black mask on. Marco saw a gun in each of their hands and ran inside. “Th-Thomas!”


	2. The Truck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erwin is out on a mission, he's taken most of the staff with him and left Bertolt in charge of the base in Trost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm soooo sorry if the quality of this chapter is less than that of the first, I had a lot happen these past few days and I really wanted to make sure this chapter was finished by today. If it reads as rushed, it was. Sorry about it, I really hope you can enjoy it regardless.

The phone rang again for the third time within the hour. They were mostly reports and check-ins but occasionally Bertolt would get this look on his face like he was in over his head. He would look over to Reiner and Reiner would nod and smile. That was usually all it took for Bertolt to calm down and handle the situation. Reiner watched carefully as he listened and nodded, taking his time and writing things down on a notepad. Occasionally Bertolt would mumble a response or correct whoever he was speaking to on the phone. There was a stern and powerful look on Bertolt’s face, one that Reiner felt was rare sight, worth waiting to see. Bertolt hung up and took a moment to think before finishing his notes.  
The room fell silent. Reiner stood at end of the desk as he had all morning, as he had for the past few days. He thought of how he wouldn’t mind it if this became their permanent situation. He definitely knew he’d want to change the office. Erwin kept very minimal décor. Aside from the messy desk Bertolt sat in, there were only two book shelves and four potted plants in the office. The plants stood at each corner while the bookshelves were on opposite ends of the room. Reiner had heard a rumor that behind one of them was a secret passageway to a bunker beneath the rest of the house. A curtained window behind Bertolt let in only enough light to justify not needing the fluorescent lights to be turned on.  
“Another check-in?” Reiner asked.  
Bertold sighed, “Yeah.” Bertolt kept his eyes on his notes as he finished writing, not turning away to look at Reiner.   
“Take a break.”  
“I already took a break.”  
“No. A Real Break. Everything’s fine there’s no reason to over work yourself,” There was a long pause of silence. Only the sound of Bertolt scribbling on the notepad could be heard. “You didn’t have to take such a short lunch.”  
“Alright… Fine. I’ll take a bathroom break.” Bertolt stood from his chair and walked quickly past Reiner without looking at him again. Reiner sighed. He knew he couldn’t be mad at how serious Bertolt was being, especially with how important it was for Bertolt. At the same time, however, Reiner always got worried at how hard Bertolt worked for Erwin, still compensating for all those years past. It was time that Bertolt learned to relax, Reiner never felt they did anything wrong after all.   
He took a seat in Erwin’s chair and sighed. He spun a few times and made a mental note. If everything went well, he wanted to make sure Bertolt got one of these spinning chairs for him. He had to admit, it felt great. The chair was nice and soft despite being made of leather, and it had some nice back support in the cushioning. Yeah… he definitely needed Bertolt to get him one of these. After a few more spins, Reiner came up with a good idea, which was good since it had already been a few minutes since Bertolt had left meaning that he’d be back at any time.   
As Bertolt opened the door, Reiner had already spun the chair so the back faced the door. He could hear Bertolt sigh again, knowing that he probably expected something like this. Reiner fought to maintain his composure as he listened to Bertolt’s steps moving closer and closer.  
“Alright Reiner, get off, I have work to do.” Reiner didn’t move at first, he remained silent, trying to gather the last of his energy to keep up a serious demeanor. Then, finally, he spun around, slowly. His legs crossed, hands resting on the top knee.  
“Come on Boss, won’t you come sit on my lap?” Reiner unfolded his arms and legs, gesturing to his lap. “I got the seat all warmed up for you.” And just like before, all Bertolt could do is sigh. He walked around Erwin’s desk to reach Reiner.   
“Okay, okay, enough joking, it’s time to finish the paperwork,” Bertolt said, arms crossed and eyes scolding Reiner.  
Reiner smirked. “Who’s joking? I’m not moving from here until you sit on my lap and make me happy.” Reiner’s smirk turned into a hungry smile. Bertolt knew the look on his face well, he knew there was no getting around giving Reiner what he wants.   
“Alrig-“ Reiner wasn’t going to wait. He took Bertolt by both arms and pulled him down until their faces were nearly touching. Bertolt, giving in, decided to climb on Reiner so that he could straddle him. That made Reiner let go of his arms, giving him the freedom to bring his hands up to Reiner’s chest. “Reiner…”  
“You know, Boss, I really like when you wear this suit,” Reiner brought up his hands to hold onto Bertolt’s back. He let one slowly snake down, allowing himself to enjoy the feel of Bertolt’s body, and the look of pleasure on his face. “It fits you real nice, Boss.”  
“Reiner…” Bertolt sighed, this time out of pleasure and not annoyed exhaustion. The difference was clear.  
“AHHH!” A shriek came from the door and Bertolt and Reiner both looked to see little Nina standing, red faced and nearly in tears. “I’m sorry!!” She wasted no time in running away.  
Reiner scrambled to stand, but Bertolt’s weight held him down. “Bertl, get up,” he ordered. Bertolt, got up as quickly as he could, he moved out of Reiner’s way and stood by the wall, already sweating profusely. Reiner stood quick and went after Nina. Bertolt could hear him yelling after her. He could tell that she decided not to come back because Reiner stopped chasing her once he was a foot out of the door.   
“Agh! Jeez,” Reiner said. “I can’t believe I forgot about the door.” It only made Bertolt feel worse when he heard Reiner take the blame, he knew it was all his fault for not closing the door. “Hey, let’s go see what she needed.” Reiner gestured to Bertolt. Hesitantly, he nodded and they both went off to find Nina, both remembering to close and lock the door on the way out.

~~~~~~~~

“Good morning,” Reiner and Bertolt walked into Doctor Theo’s office. Doctor Theo sat at his front desk, sifting through some paper work. His office was small, but looked exactly like a small portion of a hospital. It took a lot of money to convert this part of the base into a doctor’s office. Theo was given all that he would need, medical supplies, separate rooms with sterile equipment, beds, and even proper medical waste disposal boxes.   
“Good morning you two. How’s it going Bertolt? Is it easy playing Erwin?”  
Bertolt stiffened at that. “Ehh, not exactly.”  
“Really? I would have guessed by the way he just sits on his ass all day that there wouldn’t be much to it. Well, I’m guessing Nina came to get you two then?” Even Reiner stiffened at that. The two exchanged an awkward laugh and a nervous look.  
“Actually… She kind of ran off before she got the chance to tell us anything. We came here to look for her.”  
Theo stared at the both of them, “You two weren’t doing anything you’re not supposed to, were you?”  
Reiner laughed again, “Of course not!” Theo’s scolding look didn’t dissipate at that. He turned to Bertolt.  
“You know how I feel about getting with your subordinates, but I’ve been telling you for years, and you’ve never listened so I guess I’ll spare you.” Bertolt began sweating just as hard as he’s known to, unsure how to defend himself. But then Erwin’s work cell rang.   
Bertolt pulled the phone out of his coat pocket to answer. He scowled, “It’s Armin.” He sighed and answered the phone, “Hello? No, it’s Bertolt, Erwin’s out of town for the week.” Bertolt walked out of Theo’s office to continue the conversation.  
Reiner laughed. “Well I wonder what Eren did this time.”  
“Well while he’s answering the call, I guess I should get down to it. I’m running out of hormones, I need you two to send someone to the pick-up site and get a new order.”  
“How much is being picked up?”  
“About three months’ worth.”  
“That’s a pretty heavy supply. How much is left?”  
Theo snickered. “Well, I’d have to say about another month but you know how Eren gets. Hopefully Armin isn’t calling to let us know Eren found out we’re running low on our supply.” Just then Bertolt reentered the room, both Theo and Reiner looking at him expectantly.  
“Everything okay?” Reiner spoke first.  
“Yeah,” Bertolt kept a worried look on his face. “There was some sort of scuffle, those three kids who keep bugging Armin tried to corner him in the bathroom. Some kid came in and helped him, he told me he got Mikasa to dig around and they found out that those three kids are looking to find the one who stepped in after school. He wants us to get him an escort.”  
Theo sighed, “En escort and a pick-up, wow, I need a cigarette just thinking about it.  
“Heh, yeah it’ll be hard with how thinly stretched we are,” Reiner said.   
“Everyone’s either on delivery or pick up right now…” Bertolt said, speaking more to himself than to Reiner or Theo. “I guess we can send Thomas over to escort, he’s the only one that’s even nearby right now.”  
“Okay, well Bertolt looks like he’s got some work to do,” Reiner grabbed Bertolt by the hand and began making his way out the door. “We’ll be on our way Doctor, please apologize to Nina for us!”

~~~~~

“Aghh! How am I gonna find someone to take care of the pick-up?” It hadn’t been two seconds since they arrived into the office, but Bertolt was already freaking out. Reiner knew he couldn’t do anything to try to calm him down. He didn’t really want to try either. Sometimes Bertolt works best under pressure. He knew how to at least alleviate some of the stress.  
“Hey, how about you use Erwin’s computer to look over the charts and see who’s nearby for the pick-up. I’ll go find who I can get to help Thomas with the escort,” Reiner said.  
Bertolt smiled, “Thanks Reiner, that would help a lot.” Reiner left the room so Bertolt could get on with this business uninterrupted. He pulled his own phone from his pocket and began to search for Thomas’s number. But first, he thought that once this day was over, Bertolt would need a way to wind down. He had a surprise ready for him for when the week was up. He had no doubt that Erwin would see how good of a job Bertolt did and promote him. He was ready to see Bertolt’s hard work pay off.  
But for now, Reiner had work of his own to do. He called the number.  
“Yo,” Thomas answered shortly.  
“Hey, Thomas, I have a job for ya,” Reiner said.  
“Oh, uh sure, I’m actually on my way back from that delivery in the city.”  
“Cool, well we’re running really thin on staff right now, if we had any other options we’d take them, but I’ll need you to escort someone.”  
“What?! Fuck that! I’m not an escort!”  
“Listen Thomas! I don’t think you need me to remind you of how this works. These are orders from up top. You don’t have to follow them but you also don’t have to have us protecting your ass.” Reiner allowed there to be a long pause.  
“Alright, gimme the info, who is it?”  
“That’s better. I need you to find some kid the high school in Trost. His name’s Marco Bodt, he’s a senior. These three assholes decided to jump Armin in a bathroom, obviously Mikasa couldn’t be there for him. Marco saw the whole thing and stepped in. Now Mikasa caught wind that the same assholes are looking to jump Marco after class. Apparently the kid walks home every day. I’ll text you a picture and his route.”  
“Alright, and if I need backup?”  
“You should be fine without it. But you’ve still got your delivery crew, right?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Take them then.” The two agreed on a plan and hung up. Of all weeks to leave, Erwin picks this one. He figured at some point he’ll have to get in touch with Mikasa and see if enough evidence has been dug up on Marco. Reiner wanted to avoid having someone else get dog tagged, especially on Bertolt’s watch. 

~~~~~

“I took care of the escort situation. I just need you to give me a picture of Marco to send to Thomas,” Reiner reentered the office. He had a bag with him, holding Bertolt’s surprise. Bertolt ignored Reiner as he looked straight at some paperwork. “Uh… Boss?”  
“Reiner…” Bertolt firmly pressed both hands, fingers outstretched, and raised himself, slowly. “We have something we need to go take care of.” Reiner became quickly nervous. This side of Bertolt was rare, but very frightening.  
“Boss?”  
“The pick-up was compromised. Someone came in and took the hormone delivery.”  
“Bertl…” It would have to be something as serious as this to get Bertolt to be so serious. Reiner knew this was a major problem, and it might even be more than they could handle. “Do we know anything?”  
“A group of three, all masked, dressed in all black. They came in and took the truck with them. It shouldn’t be hard to track them.”  
“Then let our team handle that. Bertolt, we know what the truck looks like, we have the license plate number, we’re fine.” Reiner decided that it was bad time to give Bertolt his gift. In fact, it was a bad time for most anything. The past few days had been hard on Bertolt, and suddenly they had this to worry about. This wasn’t just an small issue. This is bad on multiple levels. Doctor Theo has about a month left of hormones to supply all the Trans* and gender queer people he treats. On top of that, the driver was compromised, and there was always the threat that the truck was being followed for a while. This could potentially mean that the person who supplies the hormones could have been found out.  
Reiner didn’t want to, but he could admit that they’ve been careless. They’ve dominated the area since they arrived, and they let themselves forget that their safety is always at risk.   
The two carefully figured out a plan, they found whoever they could to track the delivery truck. They had as many eyes and ears as they could on the roads, tracking down whoever took the truck. After interrogating the pick-up team, they weren’t able to get any details. The three people who came to take the delivery were very careful. They wore black suits and black ski masks and gloves, careful not to let any part of them be discovered. They didn’t even speak. With nearly no leads, they began to feel hopeless.  
For two weeks they continued to hack into police computers to try to check records from security cameras all over town. None of them registered the delivery truck’s license plate number. They all kept coming up empty, and Bertolt became more and more frustrated with himself. Reiner felt it hard to keep watching Bertolt push himself and all the stress was beginning to get to the both of them, but they kept working.   
They both thought it a good idea to place a gag order on anyone working to find the truck. The last thing anyone needed was to let Eren catch wind of what happened. Everyone thought it would be a lot worse than letting Erwin find out. However, Bertolt’s luck would have it that Eren needed files from the main database, and of course details from the stolen delivery case were on the database. Both Eren and Erwin found out what happened. It all led to Eren leaving his mission with Erwin. They even had to send Jean to go after Eren, leaving the already understaffed mission short of two people. Erwin didn’t seem mad, in fact, he told Bertolt how happy he was with the the way he was handling everything, especially with how out of hand things were becoming.   
In the days that it took for Eren and Jean to make it back to Trost, nearly no changes to the case were made. There were only a few small discoveries, each incredibly significant, and each made by Bertolt. The first thing discovered was that the attack was deliberate. There was a leak of information amongst the group and somehow the three who stole the delivery knew what they were taking and how to take it. The second was that if the leak of information came from a subordinate’s computer. Bertolt went into the computer room to help look for the truck through the police cameras and found that the computer he was using was behaving strangely. He disconnected it from the network and had it inspected. A bug was found which collected information and sent it off to an anonymous location. In order to remain on the computer undetected, it stayed away from the database so that it could collect more information. The tech team offered to clean the computer of the bug but Bertolt ordered them to leave it.  
Bertolt had come up with a plan, but he kept it secret. He knew that in order to keep more information from leaking, he would need to trust absolutely no one. Except Reiner, of course. Reiner was briefed on the full details of the plan. The first stage was to set up a new delivery and pick-up date. A fake order was pushed through Doctor Theo’s contact and a rendezvous was set up at the usual place. The same place where the first order was stolen. And as if on cue, the truck was spotted on one of the security cameras. Bertolt placed a stricter gag order once the truck was found. He need to make sure that Eren didn’t find out about the truck. As part of his plan, he wanted Eren and Jean to go as secret back up to the pick-up of the fake order. 

~~~~

On the day of the fake delivery, Bertolt and Reiner moved out, together they kept a close eye on the truck. The found a parking lot on the west side of town, close to a warehouse, where the truck was most often parked. They kept in constant contact with either Jean or Eren. Making sure that everything stayed according to plan. They managed to find the truck in time as Jean and Eren stayed hidden at the north side of town, at the regular rendezvous point. Beertolt had let Reiner take care of finding someone to pick up the fake order, he knew it would be handled properly, he wanted to use most of his energy on his plan to take back the truck.  
And just as he had planned, they found the truck in the parking lot in which it was most often parked. Carefully, the two approached the truck. There was no visible driver, no protection, no guards, nothing. As they got closer, they noticed that there really was no driver in the front seat. There was nobody. Thankfully, Bertolt had gotten a hold of a copy of the keys from Doctor Theo.   
They opened the truck, carefully. There didn’t appear to be anything dangerous on the truck. No explosives, no alarms, nothing. The back of the truck had the full delivery of hormones in their cases. Everything was left untouched.  
“It’s kind of weird, huh?” Reiner said, inspecting the crates.   
“Yeah,” Bertolt felt lost in thought. “Is it all there?”  
“Looks like it. Should we bring it back?” Bertolt stood still for a moment, looking out for anyone guarding the truck. When he didn’t see anything, he hopped on the truck and opened one of the crates. He sifted through and pulled out a vile.  
“Yeah,” He let his train of thought peter out. There was something different about the vile. He opened another crate and then two more. All the cases had the same viles that he usually saw, but different lids. “Yeah, we should bring these back and have Doctor Theo inspect them.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Reiner look, the lids are different. The liquid inside looks nearly the same but I think there’s a strange tint in them. I think they’ve been tampered with. Plus look, there’s no security on this thing. There’s nothing. If you really think about it, it’s so obvious that they want us to take these back. They’ve had two weeks to let us find the truck and bring it back home but they waited until the new shipment was ordered. I think they were deliberate in how they did this.”  
“So what exactly do you think they’re trying to do?”  
“My guess is that they wanted to poison anyone who wanted to use these hormones.”  
“Bertolt, this is big. We have to report it to Erwin, maybe even Hange.”  
“You’re right.”  
“Boss?”  
“Yeah?”   
“Let’s get you back home, I don’t want anyone catching us here.”  
“No one’s coming Reiner, they want us to take this, they’re not gonna stop us.”  
“I’m not worried about whoever tampered with the delivery.”  
“Then what’s the problem?” Bertolt asked, feeling annoyed.  
“You forgot to put on your dog tag.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think! Anything is good! What did you think? What did you like? Didn't like? What do you wanna see more or less of? Where do you think the story is going? I would love to get feedback on anything!

**Author's Note:**

> Please lemme know how you feel about the story! I would love to hear your feedback! Next update is on Aug 4 or 5 for ReiBert Week :D


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